How to manage the back to school period

First published: August 16th 2023
Last updated: August 16th 2023

The back to school season is underway as both kids and parents prepare for the new school year.

This can be a busy time for working parents, particularly for parents of children who are facing a milestone like starting in primary or secondary education.

So what can employers do to help staff balance their home and work lives?

Talk to your staff

Most employees should be able to predict when they might need some extra flexibility to help their children settle into their new surroundings.

Different employees will have different requests depending on what level of education their child is at.

As each employee will have different requirements, there is no silver bullet for managing this situation other than to ensure that you listen to staff and make efforts to accommodate any supports they request.

Flexible work options

If an employee makes a request for some flexibility during back-to-school season, consider their request and what solution might work best for both parties.

Some solutions could include:

• Working from home on certain days
• Early finishes/late starts on certain days
• Compressed hours
• Staggered hours

While you have no obligation to grant requests for flexibility, a blunt refusal to accommodate working parents increases the likelihood of alienating employees.

Employees who feel let down by their employer are also likely to spread news of their bad experience.

This can result in reputational damage and hinder your recruitment and retention efforts.

Remember to treat everyone in a fair manner

If only working parents are granted flexible work options during the school year, you also risk frustrating employees who don’t receive comparable benefits just because they don't have children.

It’s important to avoid granting privileges to parents only. If you provide benefits to working parents on the basis of promoting work-life balance, you should extend the same degree of flexibility to staff who need to care for an elderly parent or a spouse who’s ill for instance.

If you operate your workplace on the basis that everyone will need flexibility at one time or another, all staff will buy in and you will avoid employee unrest that could develop if only working parents enjoy flexible work options.

Right to request flexible work soon to be a statutory right

The Work Life Balance Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 is partially in force since 3 July.

Once fully in force, this new piece of employment legislation will introduce five new statutory rights for employees to support a better work life balance and to support staff with caring responsibilities.

In summary, the Act introduces the following rights:

• 5 days unpaid leave for medical care purposes for parents of children under 12, and carers
• 5 days paid leave for victims of domestic violence
• the right to request flexible working for parents and carers
• the right to request remote working for all employees
• right to breastfeeding breaks extended to two years from date of child’s birth.

Employers should be ready to receive requests from employees in line with this new employment law which is scheduled to come into effect in full this autumn.

Need HR help for the back-to-school season?

With our HR experts on your side, we can ensure your business is ready to handle employees who want flexibility.

We can also help you update your documentation to make sure it sets out how to manage the new employee rights under the work life balance legislation.

For instant HR advice and answers to any employment law questions you have, speak to one of our experts now on 1800 719 216